Shops urged to lower prices and improve customer service

Shops need to lower prices and improve their customer service in order to improve revenues, according to a consumer syndicate in Luxembourg.

24.05.2012

Shops need to lower prices and improve their customer service in order to improve revenues, according to a consumer syndicate in Luxembourg.

The Union Luxembourgeoise des Consommateurs (ULC) laid out its case to the union of shopkeepers, the Confédération Luxembourgeoise du Commerce, which it says took on board the proposals.

“We must ensure greater friendliness and better skills in customer services in stores. But the ULC is still convinced that the price level and quality of goods offered will remain the decisive criteria,” the ULC said in a press statement.

The body went on to say that the fall in commercial revenues in Luxembourg in recent years was caused by an overly high inflation rate. Faced with increased prices, a rise in taxes and stagnating salaries “non-one can expect consumers to maintaint the same spending habits,” it said.

The ULC took aim at the Observatoire de la formations des prix, a body composed of consumer representatives, employer organisations and government officials, which was formed in October 2011 to provide reports on pricing in Luxembourg.

“Instead of monitoring prices in Luxembourg, a role which could be deduced from the name of this organisation, employers want to commission a study on indexation, which does not correspond to the mission of the observatory. Profit margins also remain a taboo subject,” the ULC said.